Through Jaded Glasses
by Salve-SiS
Summary: AU. Sometimes life is great and you never want it to end. Other times it sucks and you want to shut it out, but in order to have good times you have to risk the bad. This is a lesson Apollo struggles to learn, but with the help of the people around him he might just be able to.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Ace Attorney series. If I did, I'd get someone to translate the CDs and manga. **

* * *

_::prologue::_

Juniper's favorite time of day was when she tended to the flowers in her grandmother's shop; she watered them, spoke to them, and arranged them in a way she felt was most appealing to potential customers walking by. Thena likened her to a mother when it came to the plants (or at least, a big sister); Juniper couldn't help the twinge of sadness whenever someone bought one of her flowers, but thinking about the recipient's face, lit up with delight, always helped cheer her up.

Her grandmother was out getting a shipment of English daisies, so Juniper was left to take down the streamers they'd put up for Christmas. After getting a ladder from the closet, she climbed up and reached for the decorations, grunting with determination. Her eyes widened a few minutes later as she realized the ladder was wobbling dangerously.

The ladder collapsed from under her feet. Shutting her eyes, she screamed as she fell towards the floor-but before she could reach the ground, a pair of steady arms grabbed her torso and prevented her from falling on her back. Opening her eyes, she gazed up at her savior with a shaky breath.

His hair was done up in a way which reminded her of a moth's antennae. He looked down at her alertly and asked, "Are you okay?"

"…Y-yes." She blushed when she realized her hand was resting on his chest. She jumped away from him, and began running her hands over her braid. "Thank you, sir. I'm…terribly sorry about that."

He grinned. "It was no big deal. It's not like I could have just let you fall, right?"

She ducked her head, her face red from the intensity of his smile. She glanced up at him shyly, and a bell rang in her head. "…You-do you go to Themis High School?"

He nodded. "You do too?"

"Yes." She offered her hand. "I'm Juniper Woods-sophomore."

"Apollo Justice, senior."

The two shook hands. "Welcome to the Woods Flower Shop. How may I help you?"

"Oh! Uh," he scratched his head. "My sister's doing this performance in a couple of days, and I figured…" He gestured to the array of flowers.

"What sort of performance is she doing?" Juniper asked, looming over the flowers with a critical eye.

"Er…" Apollo hesitated. "It's kind of hard to explain. It's sort of like a magic show and a concert mixed together."

"That sounds interesting." Juniper smiled at him. "What exactly is she going to do?"

"She won't tell me." Apollo said dryly. "If I ask, all she says is, _'A magician never reveals their tricks!'" _He raised his voice to imitate that of a pre-teen's. Juniper giggled at the bad impression, causing him to chuckle embarrassedly.

Five minutes and a few more questions later, Apollo was presented with a bouquet of flowers carefully handpicked by Juniper. "I hope…you like it," she said shyly. She said this to all customers, but she especially wanted Apollo to like her flowers. "I picked them based on what you said. See, the amaryllis is meant to wish good luck to performers, and the snapdragon is meant to symbolize playfulness-oh, maybe that's not a good one…"

"No, it's perfect." Apollo assured her. "The bouquet is beautiful. Thanks, Juniper. How much will that be?"

He reached for his wallet, but Juniper stopped him. "This one is free, since y-you saved me."

His eyes widened. "What? I couldn't-"

"I insist," she said earnestly. "After what you did for me, it's the least I can do for you."

"Well…okay." Apollo said. "But still, I feel kinda bad just taking this from you…"

"…Well…" Juniper twiddled her fingers. "There is…one thing you could d-do…" Apollo cocked his head. "Maybe, maybe you could drop by after your sister's show and tell me what she thought of the flowers. It'd-it'd mean a lot to me…plus, I think I'd like to hear about her show." Her face was burning hot; she ducked her head to hide the fact.

He grinned. "You got it!"

She almost fainted with shock after he left.

* * *

Thena called her over for a sleepover that night. Her mother was out working (as usual), so it was just the two of them. The two set up sleeping bags in the living room, and popped in a movie for them to watch. Their attention quickly diverted from the movie, however, when Thena noticed something.

"Are you okay, Junie?"

Juniper blinked. "W-what do you mean?"

"You've got this sort of daydreamy look on your face, and you're in an_ unusually_ good mood." Thena fiddled with the moon shaped necklace around her neck. "What happened?"

"I…I, uh…" Junie blushed. "I, um, I might have met this boy…"

"A boy?!" Thena straightened up. "Oh, I get it now! My dear, sweet Junie's been bit by the love bug!"

"Thena…!" Junie reddened even more as Thena laughed. "It's not-not like _that-_I don't think it is…"

She wasn't fooling anyone. Popping some popcorn into her mouth, Thena leaned against the couch and asked, "So, _details. _Who is he? What's he like?"

"His name is A-Apollo. Apollo Justice."

"Apollo Justice?" Thena repeated. "Wait, I know him! He's in my math class!" Despite being Juniper's age, Thena was a senior due to having skipped two grades. She made a face. "He's kinda loud, don't you think?"

"Is he…?" Looking back on it…"I guess he is a little loud," Juniper admitted.

"And you're okay with that?" Thena sounded surprised.

"He's really kind, too! He-he practically saved my life today!"

Those might have been a poor choice of words.

"WHAT?!"

Thena calmed down when Juniper explained what had happened. "Huh. I didn't know Justice could be so cool." Thena mused. "It's like those knight in shining armor stories. Just when the princess is done for, her heroic knight comes to her rescue, sweeping her off her feet!" Her eyes sparkled, her hands clasped under her chin. Juniper giggled. "So, when are you gonna see him again?"

"W-well, I guess…sometime after his sister's show-if he remembers, anyway…"

"Don't worry, Junie. I'll smack him upside the head to make sure he doesn't forget!" Thena pounded her fist into her palm. "You're not getting stood up on my watch!"

"Stood up? It's not a _d-date_, Thena!" Junie pointed out, though she couldn't deny she liked the sound.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Hmm, I wonder what I'll say at the reception-hey!" Juniper tossed a handful of popcorn at Thena's face. And thus, a popcorn tossing war broke out between the two of them.

It was a pain explaining the mess to Dr. Cykes, though.

* * *

_My first Ace Attorney fic…gotta say, I'm a lot nervous about this. My heart's pounding at the thought of this actually being online for anyone to read. The length is…not as much as I'd have liked, but hopefully future chapters will lengthen. _

_Fair warning: this fic focuses mostly on the Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies characters. That _may _be subject to change, but if you're looking for Franziska or Edgeworth, this fic isn't for you. They're cool characters and all, but I don't think I'd do them justice-better for them to be completely absent than OOC. I'm already nervous enough about writing the main characters, no need for any more stress… _

_Constructive criticism is welcome! Read and review, people, read and review. _


	2. Six Years Later

_Seven Years Later_

"Smile at the camera, Trucy!"

Trucy grinned, waving up a ketchup bottle she snatched from a random table. "Oh yeah, that's a keeper," Athena grinned at the picture on her phone. "I can see the headliner: Trucy Enigmar, Waitress Extraordinaire!"

"It's pretty good pay, considering," Trucy said thoughtfully. "You know, Mr. Eldoon said I picked up on the training seminar quicker than most of the other girls."

"Then maybe you could use some of that training and serve your customers," called out the boy sitting at the table nearby. "I'm _starving."_

"A _please _would be nice, Clay." Trucy pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm gonna have to deal with a lot of crabby customers soon, and I'd rather not have you as one of them."

"I'm not crabby, I'm _hungry." _Clay protested. "Fine. Can I_ please_ have my order taken?"

"That's more like it!" Trucy grinned. Clearing her throat, she whipped out a notepad and asked seriously. "Welcome to Eldoon's diner, sir. What would you like for lunch? May I recommend Eldoon's noodles? They're a very popular choice around here. You're almost guaranteed to beg for more after the first bowl."

"Lay 'em on me!" Clay grinned. Trucy scurried into the kitchens, leaving Athena to plop down next to him. "Man, can you believe it? Trucy the waitress."

"I'm jealous. Her uniform is so cute," Athena sighed. "Maybe I should apply for a job here."

"You'd apply for a job just for the uniform?"

"It's really cute!" The redhead insisted. "And besides, it's not like it's any different from being a therapist. You take orders, and you listen to people talk about their problems. It's practically the same thing!"

"Except a therapist gets paid more," Clay pointed out. "And you know, the people here might not want to hear your opinion."

Athena 'hmphed'. "If they didn't want a professional's opinion, they shouldn't have come to the office in the first place!"

"…Are we even talking about the same thing?"

"Here you go; one steaming bowl of Eldoon's noodles!" Trucy reappeared, setting the bowl in front of Clay. "Careful, it's hot!"

"Thanks, Truce." Clay took a bite of the noodles, and made a sound of pleasure. "Oh, it's good!"

"We've got an awesome chef in charge. He's worth four and a half stars!" Trucy pulled down the hem of her magician's hat.

A new voice joined them from the door. "Who's worth four and a half stars?"

The three turned around at the familiar voice. "Apollo, you made it!" Trucy beamed. "What do you think? Do I look like a capable waitress or what?"

"Well, I haven't actually seen you in action yet, so I can't say."

Trucy put her hands on her hips. "Polly, you're supposed to say, 'Of course Trucy. You excel at everything you do, after all. I'm so lucky to have you as a sister!'"

Setting his briefcase on the table, he joined Clay and Athena and said dryly, "The last one's true. The former? Not so much."

Trucy frowned. "If this is about your birthday cake-"

"I didn't say anything," Apollo held up his hands. 'Just that it's a good thing you're not working in the kitchens. This place would shut down within the week'.

"Stop thinking mean things about me, Polly!"

"So how was work?" Clay asked. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Not really," Apollo shrugged. "Well, there's this one thing, I guess…you know how The Wright News has that new entertainment column?" Apollo was a photographer for the well-known newspaper _The Wright News, _run by one Phoenix Wright. "Apparently there's this famous musician performing at the Sunshine Coliseum this Saturday, so Mr. Wright's sending me to take pictures."

"Oh, that sounds awesome!" Athena said excitedly. "Who is it?"

"Um…let me check," Apollo rummaged through his briefcase, pulling out a lamented ticket. "Klavier…Gavin…?"

It was clear by his voice he had no idea who that was. Trucy and Athena, however, both gasped. Trucy demanded, "You have tickets to see _Klavier Gavin? _Those sold out months ago!"

"What, you know him?"

Trucy blinked incredulously. "Know him? He's only the coolest singer in the world!"

"He's sold over eight #1 albums!" Athena added. "I didn't know he was coming here!"

"It was on the news a few days ago," Trucy said. "He's doing one big, final concert, and then he's gonna retire."

"What?!" Athena's jaw opened. "He can't do that! He's only like, twenty five!"

"Actually, I think he's twenty seven, but _I know, right?!_"

Clay and Apollo watched the two girls converse about Klavier Gavin with blank faces.

"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Apollo asked after a minute of silence.

"No. No, I don't."

Apollo sighed with relief. "Good."

"Apollo!" Trucy spun around to face her brother, her expression fiery. "You gotta take us with you! This is our last chance to see Klavier Gavin live in concert!"

Athena made a bid for Apollo's briefcase. "Hey!" He protested as she rummaged through his things, her eyes lighting up when she found one extra ticket, but then dimmed when she couldn't find another.

"Mr. Wright said I could take someone with me," Apollo explained reluctantly; he couldn't help feeling this was his boss's way of telling him…to get a date. The others apparently felt the same, since for a moment there was a spark of sadness between all of them which vanished as soon as it came.

"Trucy," Athena said evenly. "There is one extra ticket; there are two of us."

Trucy nodded gravely. "I understand this."

"Hey! Maybe I want to go, too!" Clay sounded offended at being left out of the apparent 'showdown'. He might have said more, but he quickly quailed under the intensity of the girls' glares. "Never mind…"

"So how do we do this?"

"We could always do Heads or Tails," Trucy suggested.

"After last time with your two-headed coin trick? No way."

"Drats." Trucy slumped, and then straightened up almost immediately. "I'll pay you fifty dollars for that ticket."

"Ignoring the fact that this ticket is worth way more than fifty dollars…do you actually have fifty dollars?"

"Double Drats!"

"Er, it's my tickets, guys," Apollo reminded them, but the two ignored him. "Shouldn't I be the one who decides who gets to come?"

Clay slapped his shoulder incredulously. "Dude," he hissed warningly. "Don't get involved."

"Oh, I know! Let's have a race around the diner!"

"No fair! You're faster than me, you'd totally win!"

This went on for a couple of minutes until Trucy and Athena decided on the simple game of Rock-Paper-Scissors._ Why_ they didn't think of that earlier was lost to Apollo, who watched alongside Clay as the two battled the almighty game of Rock-Paper-Scissors with narrowed eyes and straightened backs.

If you like, imagine old Western music playing in the background. It'll help set the mood.

It took less than a minute for Athena to slump and rest her head on the table with a groan, while Trucy jumped up with a victorious cry. "Yes! The ticket is mine! This is so awesome~! Thank you, Universe!"

Athena groaned again, louder this time. Clay went back to his noodles, and Apollo massaged his temples as his sister's joy reached new levels, garnering the attention of several other customers.

* * *

After her shift ended, Trucy and Apollo went to visit their mother. It'd been about a month since they last saw her, which was inexcusable considering how nearby she lived. Bidding Clay and Athena farewell, the two got into Trucy's stuffy car and drove. It took awhile for the air conditioning to kick in, so Trucy opened up one of the windows to let in a light breeze.

"I can't believe I'm gonna see Klavier Gavin live," Trucy gushed. "He has the most amazing voice and the way his voice sparkles..."

"Trucy, you sound like a teenage fangirl."

"I'm making up for lost time," Trucy explained. "It's not like there were any good musicians when I _was _a teenager."

She had a point. "So who exactly is this guy?"

"He's this famous singer from Germany. He mostly does rock songs, he's super loud Polly, you'd like him!"

"I doubt it." Apollo was not a fan of rock music.

They paused at a red light. Seconds had passed when Trucy spoke up, "Hey Polly?"

"Yeah?"

"Listen, I'm really glad you're taking me to the concert," she said. "...but why _don't _you take someone else with you? There must be someone at the office..."

"..."

"It's been two years. Maybe you should-"

"I don't want to talk about this," her older brother snapped. His grip on his briefcase tightened, causing it to tremble with emotion.

Trucy gazed at him concernedly, but was forced to turn her attention back to the road. She sighed heavily. "Fine. We probably shouldn't meet Mom all moody, right?"

Apollo was silent. "Yeah. She'd probably break out with 'Mr. Sunny Boy'," he said, forcing a laugh even though there was nothing funny about it.

* * *

_First official chapter up! Longer by four hundred words, which is nice. Hopefully it'll get even longer-or it might stay at around 1,000 words per chapter. We'll see. _

_Constructive criticism? I LIVE for constructive criticism! Bring it! _


	3. Things Get Set in Motion

_Things Get Set in Motion_

Years into the future Clay would remember this day as the day that everything began, but for now, all he could think was:

_'Oh, damn it!' _

"Oh my-I'm so sorry," He stammered guiltily as he picked up the scattered notebooks and textbooks on the floor. He scooped them into one big pile and slid them to the figure still on the ground. "I'm really sorry, I didn't see you there!"

"It's fine," the figure-a woman- grunted. "Just-_ow..." _

She was kinda cute, Clay noted, although she was wearing more make up than was necessary if you asked him. She bore a pixie haircut, with short brown curls framing her face teasingly. In fact, there was something about her that just screamed _'tease'. _Amidst the confusion he saw his wallet on the ground. It must have fallen when he bumped into the girl. He snatched it up and put it in his pocket. He then lowered a hand to the girl still on the floor.

"Mm, thanks." She smiled gratefully as she took Clay's offered hand. "But next time, watch where you're going, okay?" Leaning forward, she wagged her finger at him. "Wouldn't want any more accidents, now would we?"

Without waiting for him to reply, she hurried away, leaving the astronomy major in the dust with raised eyebrows and a slightly open mouth. He shook his head and took out his cell phone to text Apollo:

**To: Apollo **

**From: Clay**

_{Dude, you busy? I need to talk to you, like NOW} _

His reply came about three minutes later.

**To: Clay**

**From: Apollo **

_{I'm sort at WORK right now, Clay. Can it wait?} _

**To: Apollo **

**From: Clay **

_{i'll be there in half an hour}_

**To: Clay **

**From: Apollo **

_{What?!}_

* * *

Athena was one out of two therapists at her office and, unfortunately for her, she was the one who got stuck with the _real _nutjobs.

AKA: the _court-mandated _clients.

This one stood out in particular. She looked at her therapist with a dead look in her right eye (her left was hidden by the hair swept over it). Her hands twitched as if something was missing.

Athena sneaked a peak at her profile, and paled; _murder by stabbing. _Great. She cleared her throat and asked, "So, uh…how's life?" She smiled weakly at the client (_convicted murderer!) _in what she hoped was a friendly manner.

"I'm serving a life sentence for murder. How do you think I'm doing?" The woman's fists clenched and her eyes flared with annoyance.

_(Eep!) _Athena cleared her throat. "Miss…Vengus, was it? Can you tell me how exactly the crime took place?"

"Why? I bet all the details are in that profile you've got on me over there," Vengus nodded towards the mentioned profile grumpily, crossing her arms and slumping in her seat.

"Well, one detail wasn't provided…your motive." Athena frowned. "Why would you kill a forty something drunkard? Were the two of you connected somehow?"

Vengus didn't respond. As if wielding an invisible knife, she swished her hand around and casually remarked, "You ever wonder what it's like to be stabbed in the heart?"

"N-no…C-can't say I do…"

"It hurts like a sonofabitch…or so I imagine. It's gotta hurt more than getting hit by a car, right?" Vengus stared at her hand for several seconds before dragging it to her lap. "Listen, does it really matter why I stabbed him? It's none of your business anyway."

"Actually, as your therapist…"

"You mean the therapist I'm legally obligated to go to?" Vengus sneered. "What does it matter why I stabbed him? I'm still going to spend the rest of my life in prison...and he's dead, anyhow. Knowing why he's dead won't change that."

_(No, but it would make my job a lot easier...) _"Ms. Vengus, I'm detecting sadness when you talk about his death?" Vengus shifted in her seat. "Could you tell me why you would feel sadness over someone _you _killed?"

Her patient scowled. "I plead my right to remain silent."

"...You're...not on trial..."

"Then I plead my freedom of speech-or not to speak, as it were." Vengus propped her chin on her knuckles, smirking at her therapist. Athena slumped forward, suddenly exhausted.

This was going to be a _long _session.

* * *

"Clay, you can't just show up here without warning," Apollo said with the tone of someone who put up with this sort of thing more than once. "I could get in trouble if I'm caught slacking off."

His best friend scoffed. "Please, your boss is like the coolest boss ever. You could ditch work for a month and he wouldn't fire you."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "What did you want to talk about anyway?"

"I ran into this girl today-"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there." Apollo held up a hand. "You came all this way from the university just to gossip about some girl? _Again?" _

"This is not just some girl," Clay insisted, though he inwardly winced when he realized this wasn't the first time he'd said something to that effect. He barreled on regardless. "Seriously! I mean_…"_

His excitement over meeting a new cute girl faded when he realized: something about this one was….different. He'd never felt like this before, no matter how cliché that sounded. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, he couldn't even explain it, but he knew one thing: He had to see her again.

"Clay? Is something-?"

"Gotta go," he said hastily and exited the building. Getting in his car (because _he_ passed his test, unlike the rest of his friends), he drove back to his school and began his search for that girl. He knew his chances were incredibly slim: hell, he didn't what her major was, her classes- he didn't even know her name. There had to be something, though…

His phone rang just then. He answered it with a simple, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this…Clay Terran?"

Clay's heart nearly stopped. That voice…"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Oh, great!" The voice sounded relieved. "Um, my name's Robin Newman-I'm the girl you pushed to the floor earlier?"

Well, that was convenient-and weird. How'd she get his number? Ah, he wasn't going to question his good fortune. Smiling he replied, "Uh…oh, _yeah. _Sorry, it's just I bump into a lot of girls, it's hard to keep track."

"You mean I'm not your only victim? Well! Maybe I'll just keep your very. Important. Item then."

"My very important…what?"

Robin laughed. "Hey, dude, why don't you check out your wallet?"

Clay blinked. "What?"

"Just do it!"

"…Okay, I did it. Now what?"

"You did not."

"Yes, I did!"

"I know for a fact you didn't." He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. She sounded like she was smiling. "Because _I _have it."

"Wait, what?"

"_Someone _picked up the wrong wallet back when we bumped into each other. 'Course, they do look a lot alike, so it's not really your fault, but yeah, you have my wallet, and I have yours right here. What do you say we meet up and exchange them?"

"Yeah, that sounds good-and necessary."

The two set up a place to meet up after classes, with Clay fist pumping the air in triumph. Funny how things worked themselves out, huh?

* * *

_Ah ha ha...ha. Okay, whatever few readers I have, you guys can hate me. This ridiculously short chapter took two months (heads up, most chapters will probably only be around 1,000 words or so. The length will vary a lot, I wager). All I can say was my inspiration was severely lacking, but I FINALLY managed to get off my ass and get this out. YAY! _

_So people have said the ages are a bit confusing? Let me clarify things: the ages, along with the setting, are AU. I've shortened some of the ages between characters-in the prologue it's mentioned that Juniper is a sophomore while Apollo is a Senior; that was my way of saying he's two years older than she is, but maybe I wasn't clear enough. So here's a list of the current main character's ages: _

_Apollo: 24 _

_Clay: 24 _

_Athena: 22 _

_Trucy: 21 _

_Robin: 22 _

_As more characters make their appearances, I'll be posting their ages down here in the author's note to avoid confusion. _

_Until the next update~ _


End file.
